


Make It Right

by Creirdyddlydd



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Episode Fix-It: s02e13 Doomsday, F/M, Light Angst, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-16
Updated: 2019-10-16
Packaged: 2020-12-17 16:40:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,034
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21057602
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Creirdyddlydd/pseuds/Creirdyddlydd
Summary: A frantic Doctor has been trying to bring Rose Tyler home since losing her at Canary Wharf. His plan may not pan out, but the TARDIS has a plan of her own.





	Make It Right

**Author's Note:**

> This has been sitting on my computer in "basically finished" mode for so long I forgot it existed. Woops! 
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

It had been one month since the Doctor had lost Rose Tyler. A month of missing her comforting presence as he tinkered, a month of wishing to see her tongue-touched smile as she teased him for something, a month of missed movie nights and cuddles, a month of frantic searching and calculating while he kept himself holed up in the TARDIS. 

He and the TARDIS had been working on trying to find an opening to bring Rose home since she had been ripped away from him at Canary Wharf. There had been some close calls, but each opening would be too small to travel through once they had found it. 

He had been ready to send her to Pete’s World for her own safety and to be with her mother. But after she had come back and promised him she’d never leave, he had finally believed her promise of forever. Now, he and his timeship were desperately trying to bring her back, to claim her forever as his own, to accept what had been promised.

He could feel the TARDIS’s sorrow almost as if it were his own. She wanted Rose home just as badly as he did. She chimed quickly as she found another opening. It was closing rapidly, but the Doctor never gave up on a possibility until it was truly too late. He adjusted controls and ran around the console as the TARDIS sped toward the latest option, his hearts in his throat, racing like mad. 

They arrived at the opening just as it sealed itself, another failure at bringing their pink and yellow human home. It was just as hearts-wrenching as all the other close calls had been and the Doctor turned with a roar and up-ended the table the TARDIS had provided to keep his books and tools as he worked. The books and tools tumbled with a series of loud thumps and clangs as his scrap paper with numerous calculations fluttered to the grating. He stuck his hands in his hair and collapsed onto the jumpseat with a whimper. He leaned his elbows on his knees and tugged on his hair as he stared at the grating, trying to figure out a new plan to get to his Rose.

Rattling on the other side of the console caught his attention and he glanced over to see what was causing the noise. He didn’t see anything but a prod from his ship made him stand up and cautiously round the console, listening for the noise again. As he heard it again, he looked down and saw the hatch holding the heart of the TARDIS moving. 

“No. Nonononono. I can’t,” he whispered. It was so tempting, but he knew it would be a terrible mistake.

The TARDIS made another sound and rattled the covering again. “I’ll become a vengeful god. All the mistakes I’ve made, the losses I’ve suffered, you can’t possibly think I would only use the power to bring Rose back. After we got her home, I don’t know what else I would try to change. I don’t trust myself with that.”

The hum of the TARDIS deepened as she tried to connect more closely to her pilot. Knowing what she needed the Doctor closed his eyes and concentrated on their link. He still wouldn’t get words from her, but it would be easier to get her message.

His eyes flew open as he understood. “Can you do that?”

There was a reassuring hum from his ship and he stared into the middle distance as he thought over her suggestion. He remembered “Margaret”, the remaining Slitheen, being turned into an egg. She had looked into the TARDIS and wished for a new beginning. Rose had become the Bad Wolf because her wish was to save him and the power she had wielded was necessary. Maybe he could make his wish without being imbued with Vortex energy. 

“And you can erase the memory of the past month?”

Another reassuring hum.

“But how will we change what happened at Canary Wharf? There’s no sense in going back if I just lose her again.” His voice cracked and he heard her hum change again. “What do you mean Rose can change it?”

There was a moment of silent communication with his ship, but all he was getting was the feeling that she knew what she was doing. And he supposed with her being connected to all of time and space at once, she had a point.

A beep from another spot on the console caught his attention and he turned to see a message to insert his sonic screwdriver. Puzzled, he did as she had instructed and waited a few seconds for her to do whatever it was she needed to do. There was a click as she ejected the screwdriver and he just looked up at the console with a quirked eyebrow. When all he got was an impatient nudge, he pocketed his sonic and sent up a quick prayer to any deity that may be listening that this would work.

With a deep breath, the Doctor went back to stand in front of the hatch covering the heart of the TARDIS. “And just to be sure, you can contain any paradox that arises from this?”

There was one last hum and then the covering flew open. The Doctor cleared his mind of everything but one thought. “I don’t want to lose Rose.”

****

The Doctor blinked as Rose was speaking to Jackie. It almost felt like he had been elsewhere, which didn’t make sense considering the danger they were facing. The storm that had been coming, the Beast’s prophecy, it was all culminating on this day, at this very moment, and he needed to pay attention. He fingered the hopper in his pocket but decided against slipping it around Rose’s neck. He couldn’t do that to her. 

Rose turned and smiled up at him and then moved over to Jackie. “Mum, I know you always want me to come home and stay on Earth. But that’s not my life anymore. It’s not the life I want. I love travelling on the TARDIS, making a difference, helping people. That’s what I love and that’s what I want to keep doing for as long as I can. I hate the thought of you waiting at home alone, wishing I’d come back. If you take this second chance, at least I’ll know you’re happy, that you have someone.”

Her mum looked over at Pete and seeing the barely restrained hope in his eyes, knew he’d take care of her. Rose leaned in closer. “Plus, he’s rich.” She winked at her mum and smiled when the older woman huffed out a laugh. 

Jackie’s lip quivered as she reached her decision. Rose was right. She seemed made for life on the TARDIS and that’s all Jackie wanted for her daughter, to be happy. “Oh, Rose.” She pulled her into a tight hug as tears rolled down her cheeks. “I love you, sweetheart. Keep that alien in line, yeah?”

Rose choked back a sob as she clung to her mother. “I love you too, Mum.”

Jackie pulled back and made her way to the Doctor and he mentally braced himself for a slap. “Take care of my daughter, you plum.” She yanked him into a fierce hug and was surprised that he clung to her just as tightly. 

“You have my word, Jackie. And if we find a way to cross the Void, we’ll be sure to visit. I’m not making any promises that I’ll succeed, but we’ll definitely try.”

Jackie pulled back and nodded. “Be sure you do.”

There was another crushing hug with Rose and then she slipped her hand into Pete’s as they flashed to the other universe.

Rose turned to the Doctor with a shuddering breath and smiled up at him even though she had to wipe her eyes to hide her tears. “What do we need to do?”

The Doctor took her hand. “If you want to go with her, Rose, I won’t stop you.”

Rose shook her head with a smile. “I made my choice, Doctor. I’m never gonna leave you. Now, what do you want me to do?”

The Doctor stared at her wide-eyed. For the first time, he truly believed she meant it. The feeling was staggering and joyful and terrifying all at once. Getting back to the business of saving the day, he pointed to a terminal with his instructions. 

As Rose was typing, she felt a prod in her mind and gasped. “Doctor, the TARDIS!”

“Hmm? What about her?” He paused in his typing to quickly glance over at Rose.

“If we’re covered in Void stuff, isn’t she as well? Won’t she be in danger of getting sucked in?”

The Doctor waved a hand. “Nah. Her shields keep her from becoming contaminated. TARDISes were made to travel between universes. They have programs and settings that cleanse the Void materials from them after hops to other universes.”

Rose’s brow furrowed in confusion. “We were inside the TARDIS while crossing the Void. Wouldn’t that have protected us?”

The Doctor shook his head. “I guess it’s more accurate to call it ‘other universe stuff’, but it just doesn’t have the same ring. You’re a being of this universe and so am I. We didn’t exist in that other universe. We’re sort of set to a different frequency, in a way. Once we stepped out of the TARDIS in Pete’s World, we picked up particles from that universe, breathed the air, walked around, consumed the food, all things that resonated just slightly off from this world. That’s what produces the Void particles. It’s the remnants of the other universe resonating separately. Unfortunately for us, it can’t be washed off or cleaned away. It just becomes part of us.”

Rose nodded at his explanation and turned to him as she finished setting her coordinates.

****

The magna clamps were set and he looked at Rose, ready to tell her to set her lever when a vision flashed into his mind. Him leaning against the white wall in this room, pressing his ear against it as if trying to hear something. Rose was nowhere and he just knew she had been lost. 

He shook his head to clear the hearts-breaking image and was hit with another image from the TARDIS. A new setting on his sonic, one that she was frantically telling him to set. He set it and was ready to press the button, but she was telling him to wait. It wasn’t time yet. Confused, but with absolute trust in his ship, he heeded her warning.

Rose watched the Doctor fiddle with the sonic and then as their eyes met, they nodded, set their levers and grabbed their clamps. When Rose let go of her clamp to fix her lever the Doctor watched with his hearts in his throat as she clung to the lever. She was fighting to stay with him and losing. The TARDIS shouted in his mind, showing him the sonic and borderline panicking. The Doctor didn’t dare look away from Rose, terrified he’d look back up and she’d be gone. With trembling hands, he managed to hit the button on his sonic and heard the most beautiful sound in the universe.

Rose watched in relief as the TARDIS began to materialize behind her. It couldn’t materialize around her – as it had when her first Doctor rescued her from the Dalek ship – due to the lever she was clinging to, but it was positioned so if she fell, she would fall into the TARIDS. It was a welcome safeguard, but Rose refused to let go of the lever. Her adrenaline was pumping too hard to allow her muscles to unclench from their grip.

Seconds before the Void closed, Rose lost her battle and was flung violently into the TARDIS. She braced herself, knowing she would only meet with hard metal and coral, but was pleasantly surprised when she landed on something pillowy soft. She opened her eyes and glanced around to see the TARDIS had placed hundreds of pillows and blankets around the console room to protect her from the fall. With a giddy laugh, Rose jumped up and threw her arms around a coral strut. “Thank you, you marvelous dear ship.”

The TARDIS hummed affectionately at her and Rose giggled again, trying to ignore the throbbing in her back and shoulders.

The roar of the Void outside died down and Rose breathed a sigh of relief when the Doctor exploded into the TARDIS. “Rose!” He quickly dashed over to her, running his hands along her arms as if to make sure she was real. Before she could pull him into a hug, he had the sonic out and was scanning her. “Some muscle damage in your shoulders and back but nothing too serious. I can fix you up within minutes in the medbay.”

Rose launched herself at the Doctor with a little laugh, not caring about the damage to her back and shoulders. “We made it!”

The Doctor pulled her closer and felt a ball of tension release. He could no longer sense the storm that had been approaching and the weight of the Beast’s prophecy was gone. They had made it through the other side intact and together. He took her hand and threaded their fingers together. “Let’s get out of here before UNIT shows up. I don’t really want to deal with any of that.”

Rose gifted him a bright smile as they made their way into the vortex.

The Doctor smiled up at his timeship. “And thank you for doing this. I don’t know how you programmed my sonic without me knowing or when and I’m probably not supposed to know. But thank you for the recall setting.”

Rose realized how different the day would have ended without the TARDIS and squeezed the Doctor’s hand as she placed her other hand on the central column. “Thank you,” she whispered.

****

As the blue light passed over Rose’s shoulders again, she sighed in relief. 

“That should do it,” the Doctor announced as he cleaned up from healing Rose’s injuries. “You may feel some stiffness in them tomorrow, but nothing a few stretches and a heating pad won’t fix.” He flashed her a smile and felt it fade as a new vision took over. 

Rose standing on a windswept beach, words he knew but she had never said until then and time running out before he could reply.

The vision faded and he blinked as he noticed Rose staring at him in concern. “Are you all right?”

Instead of answering, the Doctor gently placed his hands on her waist, dipped down and pressed a soft, sweet kiss to her lips. He pulled back and his hearts swelled as he saw Rose blinking in disbelief, a flush staining her cheeks. “Is that all right?”

Rose nodded up at him. “Of course, it’s all right.”

The Doctor smiled and bent down again, pausing just before he claimed her lips with his own. “Rose Tyler, I love you.”

Rose gasped as the whispered words left his lips and clung to him as the kiss deepened into something a little less innocent. When the need for air forced her to pull back, she managed to return the sentiment before their lips met again.

****

The Doctor and Rose stared at a projection of Jackie in the console room. “I can’t believe you’re going to have a baby! That’s wonderful!”

Jackie let out a watery laugh. “I just got done raising you and now I’m starting all over again! I must be absolutely mad.”

“But…you’re happy?” The worry in Rose’s voice was palpable.

Jackie nodded. “I miss you more than words can say, sweetheart. But Pete treats me like a queen and I love him just as much as I loved your dad. Maybe even a bit more. Your father and I were so young and fought over stupid things. Now, being older and wiser, this Pete and I know when to let things slide and when to stand our ground. I feel grateful for this chance every second of every day, Rose.”

Rose nodded. “Good.”

“And you?” Jackie asked. “You’re happy?”

Rose gripped the Doctor’s hand a little tighter as she smiled up at him. “Ecstatic, Mum.”

“We may be able to do this again, Jackie. I’m working on it now, trying to get closer to London. I’m also trying to see if I can get Rose’s mobile signal through the Void. But it’s all still in the early stages so I can’t make any promises.”

“If the closest you can get is a projection in bleedin’ Norway, I’ll make the trip. I just want to see my daughter.”

Rose giggled and then a tear escaped as the Doctor told her she only had 15 seconds left. “I love you, Mum. So, so much.”

“I love you, too. And don’t worry about me. I’m living the high life over here.”

Rose laughed again and watched as her mother faded out. 

“Thank you.” She turned into the Doctor’s embrace and clung to him as he held her tightly while she sobbed. It didn’t last as long as it used to. For the first three months, Rose would have days where it seemed she did nothing but cry and then days where they could go on adventures and all seemed normal.

“Are you okay?” He ran his fingers through her hair, smiling slightly at the little sigh of pleasure she let out.

“I miss her, but I made my choice. And I don’t regret any of it. Being half of the Stuff of Legends? That’s a pretty great life.” Rose smiled brightly at him.

The Doctor pressed a kiss to her lips and then darted to the console. Nothing seemed to cheer Rose up more than seeing a new planet. “All right, Lewis. Ready for a new adventure?”

Rose threw him a tongue in teeth grin coupled with a little salute. “Absolutely, Sarge.”

With a laugh and a shudder of the TARDIS, they flew off into a new adventure and their forever, together.


End file.
